A Place In This World
by BellaLacey
Summary: Three sisters move to Waffle Island to escape a problem at home, working on their late father's farm, they find out a secret that will change their lives forever. OC's.


It all started with a letter.

I haven't gotten a letter in a few days. It was in a bright purple envelope.

It was from the three daughters of an old friend.

On the last line, it read. "We want to...try working on the farm." The letter was sent a few weeks ago.

"Father?" I looked up from the letter and gave a bright smile at my son "Yes, Gilligan?"

He seethed through his teeth, he despised his name. "Three girls are outside, they say they sent you a letter. They say their moving here."

"This place is pretty nice." Danielle said, pushing a strand of wildly curly hair behind her ear "I sure will miss Rock back in Forgot-Me-Not valley though."

"Tough. He was a perverted idiot anyways."

I smiled at my two sisters; we were sat on the steps of the town square in our new home. Waffle Island, what a peculiar name...

"Ladies, my father can see you now." I turned my head and looked at the light blond haired boy waiting at the top of the stairs. Danielle, my oldest sister, jumped up first, her long brown locks following suit. She was twenty, she was fashionable, and she was boy crazy. Her grey-blue eyes shone while shaking hands with Gill, thanking him for helping us.

BrookLynn was next, she was the middle child of our small family, but she was the tallest of us three. Her, also very long, black hair glistened along with her hazel eyes while walking pass Gill and flashing him a peace sign and a wink. She was nineteen, she was cool, and she had amazing taste in shoes.

Then there was me, I hoisted my small backpack up onto my shoulders, pushing one of my many books in it, and hopped up the steps. I could feel my dark brown hair bouncing along the middle of my back. I, on the other hand, am eighteen, quirky, and I like to read, a bit too much.

I'm sure when I passed Gill my eyes didn't glisten or shine, my eyes were much too dark for that, being such a deep shade of brown, the only thing they did was allow me see.

"Thank you, Gill." He nodded and walked us into the town hall.

-

"Here they are father." The blond closed the door and walked over to his desk. I didn't see him at first, but a very short, round man quickly walked down the stairs.

"Hello ladies! It's such a pleasure to meet you three." He raised his arms for emphasis.

Brooke leaned in my direction and let out a quick whisper. "Why do they keep calling us ladies?"

I giggled, and then composed myself.

"It's an honour to meet you, Mayor Hamilton; I expect you received our letter?" I hated having to talk so formal, but I always got like that around adults.

"Actually girls, that's the thing. We just received your letter today."

I bit my bottom lip and looked at my sisters, Danielle looked alarmed, but Brooke looked like she was glad she had a reason to go home. Even though we had already sold our house to another family...

"But I can assure you we'll find you guys a place to stay while were fixing up your house!"

I let out a breath I forgot I was holding. "Thank you, Mr. Mayor."

He smiled, "Now wait a minute girls, I'll have to find a place for you to stay." He waddled over to the phone in the back of the room and began dialling.

"So...Gilliam! Is it cool being the mayor's son?" Brooke piped up, the young man looked up from his desk.

He scoffed "Hardly. This town is going to be much better when I'm the mayor. Oh, and if you ever call me Gilliam again, I'm afraid I'm going to have to send a pack of wild wolves after you."

She sent him a bright grin "I adore wolves!"

"Oh yeah? There's not many around here."

Brooke's grin fell "Damn."

"Only at Mt. Geleto." He smirked as he saw her face light up again, and shuffled a few documents he was organizing. He got up and put them in a filing cabinet. He leaned against it, and folded his arms.

"So girls, do you even know what your farm looks like?"

Danielle spoke up, taking a bud from her music player out of her ear. "No idea. But it's not like we have any other choice."

He raised an eyebrow "I see."

I let out a sigh. The home problem was a touchy subject for us. I was glad Gill didn't ask.

Just as the tension started falling, the mayor walked in again, and the feeling surrounding us all sky-rocketed back to uneasy.

"Unfortunate turn of events girls, there was a flood in a village not far away from here, and a few of the residents are staying there, leaving only one room left at the inn. The good news is the kind folks at Brownie Ranch say that they'd let one of you stay there. And since there's nowhere else available, one of you can stay at my house for a few days."

My eyes winded, oh great.

Gill was still leaning on the cabinet "I recommend drawing straws."

-

The blue straw top was the inn, the green one was the Mayor's house, and the orange was Brownie Ranch.

I'm sure going to pity whoever gets to stay with Mr. Sunshine and 's-So-Obvious-I-Bleach-My-Hair.

I sighed with relief when I pulled that orange tipped straw, a ranch wasn't so bad, I could pick up a few things about farming there.

Brooke on the other hand, took the fact that she was staying with the mayor relatively well.

"Well Gilliam, it looks like you're my housemate for a few days!" She rested her elbow on his shoulder and crossed her feet standing up.

"Joy. Look forward to wolves ripping you awake in the morning."

"Yes Gilly, because you're the wolf master, you can control them all at will!"

"You can call me that." He sent a half-smirk half-smile at her.

Danielle was ecstatic about getting the inn.

"Good luck with getting out that animal smell Bella. You will now understand how bad the smell is being surrounded by horses all day."

"I'll be fine, you have a good time at the inn. And no stealing the shampoo they leave out for you." I tapped her on the nose, and then turned to Mr. Sun- I mean, Mr. Hamilton.

"Um, sir, I have no idea how to get to the Ranch. Can you possibly get someone to take me?"

"Of course my dear, Gilligan will show Brooke our house and help her get settled away, I'll show Danielle down to the Inn, and I'll get someone from Brownie Ranch to come pick you up. Oh, and I've taken the liberty of getting your furniture delivered to your own farm, to be placed in your house after construction is completed."

"Let's go Gilly Bear!" Brooke laced an arm through Gill's and waved to us with a smile, leading the boy outside.

I heard Danielle mutter a "Joy" from my right, she quickly composed herself, and talking at a much louder voice "Shall we get going sir?"

"Just a minute darling, I just have to give the ranch a ring, and then we can leave."

I sat back down in the small plastic chair planted by the door of the town hall, after the mayor was out of earshot, I pulled Danielle down to the chair next to me, and leaned over "Have fun with Mr. Sunshine." I made sure to keep my voice quiet.

She sweat dropped "Thanks." Her sarcasm leaked out of her mouth.

"Now, now Danielle. You know Brooke's the sarcastic one in this family, you wouldn't want her to find out you're trying to take her title, now would you?" I waved a finger at her; she just rolled her eyes, turning her attention back to her music player.

I stared at a faded picture on the wall; it was of a huge tree, with a bunch of small, pixie-like characters in different colors surrounding it. There was a caption around it, but it was too small to read from the chair, I was about to get up and read it, when the mayor came back.

"There we are! The people at the ranch say their sending over one of their reliable staff members to come and pick you up. Shall we go, Danielle?"

She nodded and stood up, I heard her mutter a small, "Good luck" as she waved and exited the building.

I was alone, in a strange new town, in an old building that creeks with every step you take. Lovely.

I stood up, upon hearing a small creek in the floor; I turned myself to see behind me. Have I ever mentioned I'm very paranoid?

I shook off the feeling and walked over to the picture, hearing a new creek with each step I took.

I laid a gentle hand on the framed photo; I noticed above the three, a beautiful fairy was standing on top. My gaze fell to the gold caption embedded on the painting.

"The Mother Tree and the Harvest Goddess surrounded by the rainbow coloured Harvest Sprites." I read aloud.

I then heard a new voice behind me "It's not that interesting, now pick up your stuff, and hurry up. I have work to do."

I turned around, startled "W-what?"

"You're staying at Brownie Ranch for a few days, right?" A guy stood behind me, though I couldn't see most of his face, it was darkened by his hat.

"Yes, that's me. It's a pleasure to meet you! You must be the worker that came to get me, oh! I should formally introduce myself, Hi; I'm Isabel- Hey, where are you going?"

He rolled his eyes, already half way out the door "Get your gear and come on."

I quickly grabbed my backpack from the floor by the chairs, and waited for him to lead me out.

"...are you coming or not?"

"Of course, but I-I'm waiting for you."

"This is the twenty first century you know." He let himself out, I stood in the hallway for a few seconds, I wonder what was wrong with him...

"Hurry up!"

I opened the door, a bright ray of sunshine shone on my olive skin, my eyes probably lightened quite a few shades, maybe they even sparked in that sunlight, but I doubted it.

He was a quick walker; I had to jog to catch up with him.

"So, is the Ranch far?"

"Farthest district from here."

"Oh, I guess it will be a long walk then."

Another eye roll was preformed. I noticed how contrasty he was; he had orange-red hair, very pale skin, and very bright blue eyes.

I was puzzled, but that feeling disappeared when I saw a huge, beautiful black horse waiting at the end of the steps.

"Wow, he's gorgeous."

"It's a she. Get on."

"I can't...don't ride very well yet, my sister Danielle is teaching me."

"There's more of you? Holy goddess." He groaned.

"Oh! No, they're staying elsewhere; I'm the only one staying at Brownie Ranch."

"Whatever, so are you getting on, or not?"

"What's her name?"

"Abercrombie."

I nodded, and stroked the side of her face, she shook her head, causing me to drop my hand to my side, but she gently brushed her head against mine.

A sent a smile over to the red haired guy, my way of telling him I was glad she liked me, but all I got in return was a darkened face.

I tilted my head to the side, I was about to ask him what was wrong, when he quickly got onto Abercrombie.

"Get on."

I then realized that I was going to have to sit in the same saddle with him, and...Hold onto him.

I blushed; I was never a fan of physical contact, very much so with people of the opposite sex, I reminded myself I only had to hold him in fear of being thrown off, and it was for my safety.

While I was thinking, he must have taken my hesitation for nervousness, he rolled his eyes and extended one of his hands down to me, I realized he was tired of waiting and took his hand, getting onto the horse with his help.

He tilted his hat down over his eyes, then grabbed onto the reigns, letting go of my hand.

"Hold on." I obeyed, sliding my arms around his waist, and leaned into him a little. The saddle wasn't that big. My, this was awkward.

He gave Abercrombie a little kick, and the mare started to walk, he nudged her with his feet another bit, and she gained a little speed, we were now exiting Waffle Town, into another district, as I remembered from the map I read on the boat, was called Maple Lake.

He gave her another small kick, and she broke out into a gallop, I held onto the guy a little tighter, even if I was learning to ride horses, I definitely wasn't at galloping yet. Falling off a horse was one of the things I'm scared of.

I felt a few stands of red hair blow into my face, but I wasn't about to even try to let go and get rid of them. We transferred into Ganache Mine district, and quickly passed another little farm.

The gap between that district and the Brownie Ranch one was pretty small, so we quickly entered the ranch area.

He pulled on Abercrombie's reigns a bit, his hand tightening on mine a bit, and slowed her down to a trot, we climbed up a small hill and pulled to a stop on a small grass pasture. He let go of the reigns, and my hand, and got off the horse, I hoisted by backpack onto my shoulder again, and realized, I have no idea how to get off a horse this big.

"Um..." I started, putting my hands on the base of the saddle.

He got my drift "Fine, but don't expect me to do this, ever, again." He helped me shift my legs so that I was sitting side saddle, and he put his hands on my waist, I noticed he was pretty tall, barely having to reach up to lift me off.

"Put your arms around my neck." I followed as he, surprisingly gently, lifted me down from the horse.

We let go once my feet were back on the ground, I smiled up at him, "Thank you..."

"The name's Gray."

I nodded "Thank you Gray." I squinted my eyes a little, still smiling. The sun was too bright today.

I turned to the side, putting a hand on Abercrombie's face "Thank you too." I brushed the short, silky hair on her, as she nudged her head into mine again. I giggled, but was interrupted by Gray pulling on her reigns, leading her into the barn.

"I'd ask you what your name was too, but I don't really care."

I slightly pouted, then turned my attention to a building down below the hill, I guess that was where the owner's were.

-

I knocked on the wooded door, and then I remembered it was a shop, I twisted the handle and let myself in.

"Hello?" I looked around, there were shelves of animal supplies and dairy food, and a cash register, it was a pretty simple place, but I noticed a large mural being painted on the far wall. I loved to paint back in Forget-Me-Not valley, so I walked over and touched it, a bit of yellow paint rubbed off on my fingers.

"Hello?" I heard a small voice come from a room in the back.

"Um, Hi." I called out, directing my attention to the door.

A small, chestnut brown haired girl came out from the room, "I'm sorry, but were closed. You can come back tomorrow though, our store hours are-"

I smiled "I'm not here to buy anything, I'm Isabella. The girl who's going to be staying here for awhile. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Oh! Bella, yes, my father told me you were coming." She walked over and shook hands "I'm Renee."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Renee." I smiled "Um, about that guy, Gray..."

"Oh, he told you off, didn't he?"

I swore I sweat dropped "N-no!...yeah, pretty much."

"I'm so sorry about him, he's...not the friendliest person."

After that, Renee brought me into the dining room for some hot chocolate. It may have been the end of summer, but hot chocolate was something I couldn't resist.

"Thank you so much for letting me stay here." I said, taking a sip of the warm liquid.

"Oh don't thank me, thank Gray."

"Gray?"

"Yes, when the mayor called us and we told him we had no place left, Gray said he had just cleared the second floor of barn. There's a big opening in the middle of the barn, looking down at the animals, but there's two flats on each side of the barn, Gray sleeps on one, and you're staying at the other."

I was puzzled; Gray didn't strike me as the type that would just give up his personal space for some stranger.

"And that's how you properly place a saddle." I heard a new voice entering the shop, a tall, muscular man and a short woman came in, accompanied by none other than said shade.

"Well hello there." The woman smiled "You must be Isabella, I'm Hanna. And this is my husband Cain."

I stood up, holding my drink with one hand, and shaking their hands with the other "It's great to meet you guys, thank you so much for letting me stay here."

"It's our pleasure Bella dear, besides, it's going to be great having another worker around here!"

Another...worker?

I smiled, none the less, and nodded.

"Well, it's getting pretty late, time for us all to hit the sack!" Cain said, grinning, his family laughed as if it was some great joke, but myself and Gray stayed quiet. I looked at my watch, 9:30. Great, this is late for these people?

Gray nodded at the family, and then looked at me. "You're staying in the barn, come on."

I followed, waving goodbye and saying thanks once more, and walked with Gray outside.

-

Despite it only being nine, it was getting pretty dark, the stars were already peeking out from the sky.

"I hope you're good with living in a barn. It's your only choice."

"It's not a problem, I love animals."

He grunted "And how to you feel about the stench?"

"It's not that bad."

We reached the barn, he looked at me and told me to shut up. I guessed the animals were already asleep.

"You're sleeping on the right side, I have the left. There's a bathroom over there for you to get changed in."

The barn wasn't huge, but it wasn't small. The animal stalls were directly below us, and the bathroom was small, by the feeding troth. There was a small bridge built in between the two platforms.

On my flat, there was a simple straw bed, and a bedside table. After I changed into my purple tank top and white pyjama bottoms, I placed my backpack on the table and took out one of my favourite books, entitled Fruits Basket, and sat on my bed. I looked up, there was a huge hole in the ceiling, revealing the stars and a bright moon.

I heard a creek. Gray had sat down on his own straw bed on the other side of the room, his hands were entwined together.

"So you're Isabella."

"You can call me Bella." I noticed he had changed, he wore beige pants and a white shirt, his hat was off, even though he had major hat hair.

"Yeah. Cain said that you're going to be working with me for the next week, just so you know, even if you're a girl, I'm not going easy on you."

I nodded "It's okay."

He scratched the back of his head.

"Gray, if you don't mind me asking, why did you let me stay here?"

"It's none of your business."

"Well, it is about me, so..."

Sighing, he laid back on his bed "Cain said a new person had arrived on the island, and that it needed a place to stay. I overheard him talking a few days ago about how he needed new workers, or he'd have to shut the ranch down, so I volunteered the barn. He made it sound like you were a guy."

"Oh, well, you must really care about the ranch."

"I don't. Only the animals in it."

I nodded, an awkward silence followed.

"The stars are pretty." I noted.

He shrugged, not even looking at the stars "They're boring."

"Have you ever seen a shooting star before?"

"Yeah, so?"

"I've never. I'd like to though."

"Maybe, if the magical lucky fairy sprinkles you with some fairy dust, you'll see one! And maybe, if the fairy sprinkles me with some dust, you'll shut up."

"..." I moved my gaze from the stars to Gray.

He eyed my clothes, "You know it's nowhere near late, right?"

"I don't mind going to be early."

"I don't pay attention to when Hanna and Cain say to sleep, I go to Alan's tree and hang out there."

"That sounds nice."

"I'd ask you to go, but I don't want to." He got up and quickly walked down the steps to the first floor, exiting, he yelled out a loud "Don't touch my stuff, and stay on your side."

I raised an eyebrow "Sure, have fun."

-

"I'm bored."

I sat at the base of my bed, staring at the gigantic full moon from the hole in the ceiling. I had nothing to do, so I ended up talking to myself.

"I wonder why he's so mean..."


End file.
